Intuitive Eating, 3rd Edition

Speak out loud the thoughts of your Rebel Ally so you don’t use food to take care of you.

The Chaotic Unconscious Eater

The problem occurs however, when diligent eating (almost bordering on militant) affects a healthy relationship with food—and negatively impacts your body.

Alicia had been dieting since she was a child. Although she was not officially dieting, she retained (and expanded) a set of food rules with each diet that nearly paralyzed her ability to eat normally. We see this all the time, the hangover from dieting: avoiding certain foods at all costs, feeling out of control the moment a “sinful” food is eaten, feeling guilty when self-imposed food rules are broken (such as “Thou shalt not eat past 6 P.M.”), and so on.

Biologically, your body experiences the dieting process as a form of starvation. Your cells don’t know you are voluntarily restricting your food intake. Your body shifts into primal survival mode—metabolism slows down and food cravings escalate.

Feeling that you don’t deserve to eat, because you’re overweight.

Dieting had made food the enemy. Dieting had made her feel guilty when she wasn’t eating diet-types of foods (even when she wasn’t officially dieting).

The distinguishing protector of their heart health and longevity was found to be social cohesion and social support

Rather than demeaning the results of this coping mechanism, respect yourself for surviving.

Overeating can also occur when your lifestyle becomes unbalanced with too many responsibilities and obligations, with too little time for pleasure and relaxation. Consequently food is used to indulge, escape, and relax (albeit so briefly). When you find this happening, it may be a signal for you to reevaluate your life and find ways to put more balance into it. If you don’t make these necessary changes, food remains important by filling an unmet need.